Artists Caw Wi Jiwa, Erin Sayer, and Yuya Negishi were on the receiving end of a major buzzkill yesterday morning when the mural they were working on along the Midtown Greenway near Sunrise Cyclery was found covered in whitewash.

A Facebook post by Artists in Storefronts notes that the mural-makers had permission from the pertinent landowner, Sunrise Cyclery, and the Midtown Greenway Coalition. City officials say they had nothing to do with covering up the mural, and at this point it's unclear who or what entity was responsible.

Here, via Caw Wi Jiwa, is an image of the mural before it was whitewashed (click to enlarge):

Jiwa's comment on the photo, posted on Facebook after the whitewashing was discovered, simply says, "RIP."

-- Follow Aaron Rupar on Twitter at @atrupar. Got a tip? Drop him a line at arupar@citypages.com.

Permits for murals on the Midtown Greenway are issued by the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (hcrra@co.hennepin.mn.us). Any request to install art on the Midtown Greenway, or anywhere in Minneapolis, goes through the Minneapolis Arts Commission (https://www.facebook.com/MPLArtsComm) prior to the HCRRA granting a permit.

We are aware of the most recent incident of painting over a mural at Blaisdell. Our graffiti crew painted over it because it was not a permitted mural. Somewhat fortunately, the crew ran out of paint mid-job and have been instructed to leave the mural as-is while we work with Minneapolis and the artist on next steps."

@Jeffrey Stager Your opinion is irrelevant to the fact that this was vandalism of private property. A crime. The property owners sanctioned the mural and even cleared it with the greenway coalition to be sure.